Investigating route learning, metacognition, and beacon-based strategies using virtual environments

Lingwood, J. and Farran, E.K. and Courbois, Y. and Blades, M. (2020) Investigating route learning, metacognition, and beacon-based strategies using virtual environments. European Review of Applied Psychology, 70 (4). p. 100570. ISSN 1162-9088

Text Using virtual environments to investigate wayfinding in adults - AAM.docx - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Introduction. – Dominant theories of wayfinding may have underestimated the ease with which adults
can learn a route, even with minimal exposure to that route.
Objectives. – In this paper we present three different experiments to provide a comprehensive picture of
whether adults can learn complex routes consisting of a number of choicepoints, and if so, what strategies
they might be employing to do so.
Method. – and results We found that adults could learn a 15-junction route after only a single experience
of the route (Experiment 1) but that they underestimated how good they would be at learning the 15-
junction route (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, we found that when learning a route made up of “T”
shaped junctions, participants relied on a “beacon” strategy based on visual matching.
Conclusions. – Collectively, these findings suggest that adults can learn complex routes, even with as
many as 15 choicepoints, very quickly and without the need for repeated exposure. These findings have
implications for theories of wayfinding and call into question the need for repeated exposure

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	© 2020. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in European Review of Applied Psychology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in European Review of Applied Psychology, Vol 70, October 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2020.100570
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Human and Digital Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Jamie Lingwood
Date Deposited:	26 Jan 2023 10:12
Last Modified:	26 Jan 2023 10:12
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3752

Actions (login required)

View Item